Let’s hope, although the Republicans better have an alternative insurance-reform plan ready to go or the idea of repeal is useless. Imagining what would happen to people’s insurance, the economy, and the entire health care industry if Obamacare is yanked with no substitute ready to replace it is beyond the ken of our understanding. Millions would see their premiums skyrocket without subsidies, states would be stuck holding the bag on Medicaid expansion, massively increasing their costs, while rules governing doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, and the rest of the industry would still be enforceable. The economic dislocation and confusion would be unprecedented.

Still, Obamacare is worth repealing. Removing the tentacles of the state from one sixth of the economy will be extremely disruptive but, in the end, probably worth it.

Back to the present hallucination that defunds Obamacare, the Senate isn’t the only actor in this fantasy, of course. Looming over the defunding scenario is the dark visage of Lord Sauron, sometimes referred to as President Obama. In the House GOP scheme, after Senate Democrats have a road to Damascus moment and vote to defund a bill they voted for in 2010 and defended for the last three years, the continuing resolution lands on the president’s desk where he is so terrified of the political consequences of a government shutdown that he cuts off his own testicles and signs it.

“Ted Cruz and [Utah Sen.] Mike Lee have been asking for this fight,” said Louisiana Rep. John Fleming, a reliable conservative. “The conservative base has been asking for this fight. So we’re gonna give ’em the fight.”

And that pretty much sums up the reason why so many Republicans — perfectly aware that they are beyond tilting at windmills and are now upside down with their heads stuck in the mud — are going to vote for this strategy. Shadow boxing with phantoms is being sold as a “fight” because this proves that Republicans are “serious” about getting rid of Obamacare.

Resistance is futile, in other words, so why resist at all? It’s an ironic argument since it seems Republican leadership only resists when doing so is futile, when the resistance is token. Thus the prior votes to repeal Obamacare, all forty of them, taken in the comfortable knowledge that they had no chance of succeeding – just going through the motions in faux fulfillment of a commitment to the base to work tirelessly to undo the law. But when something might not be futile – when it could actually work, and therefore entails hard work and risk – we generally find leadership in folderoo mode, babbling its one-half-of-one-third mantra.

Mr. McCarthy goes on to describe just why defunding is different than repeal and why it has a real chance of success. The Many Worlds Theory of quantum mechanics posits the notion that once a quantum event is observed, the universe is split into an infinite number of universes, each representing a different possible outcome for that event. For example, in our universe, you go out to check your mailbox tomorrow, and in another universe, when you open the door and reach in to pull out your mail, instead of bills and circulars, you find a check for a million dollars. Any outcome is possible.

So one supposes in some universe in the quantum firmament, there is scenario where Democrats in the Senate vote for defunding Obamacare and, in a grand ceremony at the White House, President Obama signs the CR with a flourish, thanking Republicans for saving America.

Meanwhile, back on planet earth, this defunding mirage is tearing at the vitals of the Republican Party. It has aroused enormous animosity and bitterness among the base, who are demanding that the attempt be made not because it has any chance whatsoever for success, but because the effort itself will prove that the establishment is paying attention to the right wingers and that they can be controlled like a bunch of first graders lining up for a fire drill. The 40 or so votes to defund Obamacare, as Mr. McCarthy points out, weren’t serious and didn’t prove that members were sufficiently dedicated to getting rid of the law. Ergo, Republican lawmakers must pretend that the defunding hallucination is real by voting for it in the House and filibustering any continuing resolution in the Senate that authorizes one cent for the law.

There is no objective reality at work here. But as ideology is refined and sharpened even more, fewer and fewer Republicans dare stray off the right-wing reservation. If the right wing can turn on Ted Cruz, who in the entire GOP caucus is safe?

We ended up with a balanced budget the last time the Republicans forced a shut down of the government, why not try it again? It's not like the government burden is doing the country or economy any good, so shutting them down will be a good thing.

"This is a different Republican Party than the one just five years ago — which was a different party from the one a decade before and the one a decade before that again. The shift has been radical. It has redefined conservatism in the process, eschewing traditional conservative principles and substituting a blindly partisan, wild-eyed extremist ideology that turns on and bites its own at the first sign of apostasy."-----------------------------------------------------

So Mr. Moran - when can we expect you to announce that you didn't leave the republican party for the democrat party - the republican party left you??? Eh?

For the record you've got it assbackwards as usual. Its the RINO side of the republican party that is moving - TO THE LEFT. As in LURCHING LEFT.

I just love RINO op-ed pieces like this. Blame the conservative brethren. Every time! Can you say G H W Bush? Bob Dole? G W Bush? How about Mitt Romney? 1 for 4 in that group of RINOs - call that a success story do you?

Yeah - we're just a bunch of wild-eyed Neanderthals out here in conservative fly-over territory!

"Resistance is futile ... so why resist at all?" Can you imagine our world today if Washington, or Churchill, or Martin Luther King had used this rhetoric? No wonder why so many of us are disgusted with mainstream Republicans. These are the same spineless "geniuses" willing to commit party suicide by embracing immigration amnesty. Thankfully, Patrick Henry did NOT say, "Let's face it, we don't have a chance, so let's go home now and maybe we'll try again in a few years."

"Still, Obamacare is worth repealing. Removing the tentacles of the state from one sixth of the economy will be extremely disruptive but, in the end, probably worth it."

I'm sorry to break it to you, Mr Moran, but that ship has sailed, and probably at least 40 years ago. But, I'm guessing you know all this, and are just using this trope for rhetorical effect.

If there is any "industry" more regulated and intertwined with government at all levels, I can't think of one other than the health care industry. From establishing pricing of procedures via the muscle of CMS, to training and certifying of practitioners, to defining building specifications.

Perhaps the airlines come in a close second. This idea of the "government controlling one-sixth of the economy" as a scare tactic is complete bushwa. Last I heard, people will be signing up for insurance from PRIVATE insurance companies. That means Cigna, United Health, etc.

If Moran was ever right about anything this column would give me cause for pause. After reading it twice I could only detect the same old establishment Republican drone. Don't do anything to upset the status quo - don't worry the Democrats will adjust it for us.

Why is it a given that the other is going to be the one to hang in there it the end and that its our side that will cut and run?

Internal Democrat documents from the 1990's shutdown show they were ready to cave when Bob Dole came rushing in to their rescue as he pressured the Republicans into giving up so it wouldn't mess with his presidential campaign.

There's no reason to be blindly optimistic about our chances of winning but there's no reason at all to be overly pessimistic. Obama's stance is basically that he would rather shut down the government than to let the Republicans make the slightest change to alter or delay Obamacare.

That's something that can be worked with to our advantage politically if we could stop individual Republican officeholders and pundits from publicly stating that standing up for what they believe in is a stupid strategy.

As I have stated before, this fight requires backbone and strategy. Rick, do you really think that the action of defunding Obamacare is the grand strategy here? The votes to defund allow for the possibility of a single battle to be waged. That's it. One little battle in a long war for the hearts and minds of the American people. The battle is nothing more than a diversion intended to buy time to build the support of the American People.

You see, many people were still caught up in the whole "Hope and Change" good times when Obamacare was passed and they really didn't pay attention to the unethical parliamentary procedures and outright deceit used by the Democrats to pass this legislation. Those same people who believed in "Hope and Change" and believed all the lies about Obamacare are now seeing the reality of Obamacare as it hits their jobs and their pocketbooks. When those people were high on "Hope and Change", nothing could convince them otherwise. Those same people are now feeling the hangover from the "Hope and Change" cocktails, are now paying attention, and are now willing to listen.

The thing is, we need time and we need evidence. The people who were duped by "Hope and Change" won't easily admit that they were duped, so the sins committed by the Democrats during the time that the people were high on Hope and Change will always be seen in a positive light. Consequently, the use of such sins as evidence is ineffective. However, now that they are disillusioned and are paying attention, battles such as this are crucial because they force the Democrats to act on their threats and demonstrate their unethical use of parliamentary procedure to thwart the will of the people. Once the Democrats act, then those acts can be used as evidence, only this time, the people are in a foul mood. Hope and Change is long gone and the new evidence will be interpreted in a negative light, giving us a chance to convince them to act at the ballot box in 2014 and beyond.

In the meantime Rick, expect more little battles that appear to have no hope of succeeding in their stated goal, but will succeed in changing hearts, minds, the makeup of congress, and perhaps even the presidency.

Futile my fanny! Correct, if the Senate Ds hold together, the House Conservatives cannot stop the train wreck. But, why is it such a given that 3 or 4 of the vulnerable Ds in the Senate who rep Red States can't have their feet held to the fire? I've already been in contact with TEA Party and Conservative groups in LA (Landrieu), AR (Pryor), and AK (Begich) and they are trying to flood the Senators' offices with a simple ultimatum. BUCK HARRY REID OR WE WILL SEE THAT YOU ARE NEVER RE-ELECTED TO ANYTHING ABOVE DOG CATCHER IF ITS THE LAST THING WE DO! I know that's a bit of hyperbole, but why do we Conservatives sit around wringing our hands admitting that we can't do anything to stop this...without even trying the only tactic available to us. We can at least put up a good fight. If we can't win on an issue that is disapproved by 60%+ of all voters, why don't we just throw ourselves into the sea! We should energize ourselves, fight like hell, and make vulnerable Dems lives as miserable as possible. For a change, WE are on the POPULIST side of an issue!

Suppose the whole Fed goes down in flames? I am beginning to think the Anti-Federalists were right. Obamacare establishes a form of government alien to that our ancestors established. Do whatever it takes to destroy or dismantle it. Had our Founding Fathers known about PPACA, they would have included it as one of the grievances they had with the British Parliament and Crown in the Declaration of Independence. Obamacare is Anti-American tyranny—KingGeorgecare. This isn't hyperbole. My ancestors died to stop this kind of ----/thing being the law in this land.

Conservatives are in Lincoln's position--we must find the general(s) who will get results. That process took Lincoln three years, and many battles were lost in the meantime. But LINCOLN EVENTUALLY FOUND GRANT AND HE WON THE WAR!

If the Republican "generals" are afraid to engage the enemy, the war is lost before it starts! If they are afraid to engage on O-care, with public support at their back, then let's find out now, and keep replacing them until we find our General Grant. It's a messy process, but the alternative is defeat, and I'm not throwing in the towel just yet!

We ended up with a balanced budget the last time the Republicans forced a shut down of the government, why not try it again? It's not like the government burden is doing the country or economy any good, so shutting them down will be a good thing.